Mistletoe
by Eyes of the infinite galaxy
Summary: Mistletoe, Anna and Kratos.What could happen? No longer a oneshot but a series of 'em thanx to all you reviewers!
1. Chapter 1

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**Damien: YOU wrote a ROMANCE piece?! How the hell did you pull that off? Dana Saras (Lue's true name… not!) writing a ROMANCE PEICE? Someone pinch me…**

**Me: I thought you promised you wouldn't freak out?**

**Damien: This is truly the impossible! How am I not supposed to freak out? **

**Me: FYI, I'm really immature and am bit touchy with… uh, Damien could you say it for me?**

**Damien: Okay… she can't be drunk, she isn't possessed… is she sick? Yah, she could be sick… a headache maybe… yes… one of those normally make people a little drowsy…**

**Me: Ah-um, Damien?**

**Damien: But even a headache isn't enough for her to go this crazy… hmmmm… did you get enough sleep? You weren't up late were you?**

**Me: Come on, it actually isn't that hard. You just insert love into a friendship story and you're good to go!**

**Damien: Did you just say love? By yourself? Some one get the doctor!**

**Me: Just ignore her people. **

**Damien: (On the phone presumably with a doctor) No fever… um… the only symptoms seem to be extreme mental craziness… I don't care if you're the pizza delivery boy, just get me the remedy before she goes insane!... No I am not the one with the insanity!**

**Me: …Well anyway, it's a Kranna, worked very hard on it and hope you enjoy… oh yah, and Kraine fans and immature people, GIT OUTA HERE!**

Mistletoe

Anna fell across the bed, not even bothering to wonder were Kratos had gone. It had been three weeks since he had kidnapped her from the ranch, in hopes of making sure her exsphere wouldn't make its way to the hands of Yggrasill, the apparent leader of the Desians. The seraph would, as soon as they reached Luin, release her into the public and pray that the Desians wouldn't get their hands on her, for the result would be an even more powerful Desian dictator and a far more challenging opponent.

What had set his mind to leaving her, she did not know, but assumed that he had other business to complete so the only other option besides abandoning the betrayed girl was killing her all together, which she didn't find too appealing.

Even with an exsphere, a week of little rest and intense foot-travel had drained her to her limit, this had driven every ounce of energy left in her from the inhumane Asgard Ranch and was now showing visibly.

The brunette's once lively, lustrous hair was now dull, tangled ringlets of raw umber color. Her beautiful, sparkling eyes were nothing but orbs of gray, sullen void, and her body, all in all, was completely exhausted.

But for Anna's incredibly cheerful and energetic personality, exhaustion was hardly an excuse for such an uncharacteristic reaction. And in all honesty, exhaustion wasn't the reason for her melancholy state.

The young host body presently lay, buried in a pile of cotton bed sheets, under the roof of the hospitable Flanior inn on one of the last errands she would perform with Kratos before returning to her former hometown in Sylvarant. She dove further into the covers sobbing internally but trying to ignore her emotional pain, the pain of a betrayed and rejected heart.

Slowly, she drifted into an unpleasant, shallow sleep, listening to the soft evening snowfall and her invisible tears of pain and sadness.

Tossing violently, Anna awoke about two hours later to find that the night had barely begun as the same black coat of stars still stretched across the sky, the only difference being that it had faded into a darker shade of navy and was about midnight.

Placing a wearied, toil-worn hand over her forehead and allowing the weight of her mentally whirling head to fall into her outstretched palm, she headed for the balcony, praying that a bit of cool air would ease her troubles, the troubles of a deserted heart.

Swaying slightly, as if she were in a trance, she shuffled to the exit, glided across the balcony to the edge without much zeal, and grasped a hold of the railing that bordered the platform.

It was snowing softly, the individual snowflakes visible and magically dancing through the air before falling to the snow-covered ground. The night was clear surprisingly, leaving no cause for the snow and enhancing the scene with all the more magic and mystery. The stars were scattered across the navy sky and were also quite clear.

The depressed girl would have enjoyed this had it not been for her current situation of mixing, unpleasant thoughts and negative emotions.

Even though at first it had not appeared so, Anna was beginning to enjoy Kratos' presence, so much; in fact, she had actually become attached and was close to dreading the day that he would leave her alone in Luin. They were pointless, aimless her efforts: futile attempts of hiding her feelings that would only lead to more pain.

In all sincerity… she was in love…deeply in love with someone who saw her only as a host body, and acted as though she were more her exsphere than a living person, more a thing than a woman- no that wasn't it... he treated her quite well frankly… just not the way the brunette wished him to treat her, in a friendly, formal,… restrained way not… with the secret passion she had for him. Not that the distance he forced between them was all that hurtful but it prevented her heart from reaching the swordsman's, creating a suffering worse than the ranch, considering she wasn't only in physical agony, but emotional as well, the emotional being ten times worse than the hell she had suffered there, at the ranch.

"_Torture has its ways of following its victims, let it be at the ranch or here, I'm still in pain…_" she muttered silently crying even harder to herself, her heart bleeding with the torturous pain of a broken, shattered heart,

"K-Kratos?" She questioned audibly realizing the faded figure, hidden by flakes of snow, about four feet away on the other side of the balcony. Kratos turned, so that he was visible, to see Anna directing a calm, kind gaze upon her.

"You are not asleep?" He questioned softly, his gorgeous brown eyes continuing to focus on the brunette.

"I… couldn't sleep," Anna explained, allowing a brief pause in her statement to observe how truly wondrous his eyes actually were. Kratos examined her as well, finding her usually depressed and shy.

"I can't either…" Kratos muttered in dry humor, referring to the fact that he was an angel and was incapable of sleeping as much as he wanted to. Strangely, he did not receive the expected reply, only an unfamiliar silence he had never experienced with her.

A chilly breeze picked up, blowing mostly cool snowflakes into their faces and causing Anna to shiver slightly, her consciousness long gone, trying to sort out her emotions, her snow white, laced dress wavering increasingly. The airy current continued to grow, causing Anna to loose her footing and fall further to the left, closer to Kratos, before she could regain balance.

Suddenly, something, not cold but warm and textured brushed against Anna's right hand and forced itself into her left. The sullen maiden uncaringly looked down into her left palm to find a dry leaf and two berries of mistletoe that had snuck into her grasp during the breeze.

"_But this isn't torcher… it's Hell…_" she whispered gazing down at the leaflet, closing her eyes shortly afterwards, praying her tears would not become visible—but she realized her attempts were entirely useless as miserable, lucid one did, falling upon the broad side of the mistletoe leaf and staining it with a excessive stroke of sadness.

A silent drop, only audible to angelic ears, drew Kratos' attention away from his unaware state of thoughts and to the unfamiliar brunette, now very close beside him. Her hair, even though tangled, was beautiful and gave off a magnificent shine, maybe not at its peak, but still beauteous as it cascaded over her shoulders and down her back, dangling lifelessly around her and concealing her face under its shadow. The girl's eyes of golden luster, even though barely seen and hidden by shadow, were now dazed, and clouded with sadness. Her back remained unsupportive as she leaned over the railing for support as though she could fall any minute. She stood there, in a sullen, uncharacteristic mood, breathtakingly beautiful but broken… the exact image of a fallen goddess.

Another tear toppled down from her watering, but shadow-covered eyes, splattering unnoticeably upon her left hand, Kratos' gaze immediately focusing on the droplet.

'_Water?..._' the seraph questioned under his breath, not yet realizing they were tears, due to his lack of emotional experience and understanding. Suddenly, yet another tear fell from her face, breaking his puzzlement and finally revealing what they were to the confused angel, '_tears_…'

"Anna?" the concerned swordsman asked, trying to decipher the problem behind her shadowed mask.

"Yes?" she responded strikingly strongly without an inch of hesitation.

"You're… crying…" The seraph muttered, taking a brief moment to recall the word that described her watering eyes. His view migrated from the small pool of tears to a strange pair of berries bound by a leaflet in her tightening hand, '_Mistletoe?'_

"I… I am no-t…" the clearly troubled brunette replied her voice beginning to shake in momentum with her trembling body and tears.

"I don't see what you gain in hiding your tears," the angel stated.

"I do not gain, I retain **(dignity)**," she stated stopping her tears the best she could and adding her best tinge of humor to the statement. Kratos almost smirked at this, but knew this wasn't the time for that.

"I trust there is something troubling you?" Kratos questioned, seeing right through her sad, fake smile.

"…"

"You do not _want_ to tell me, is that it?"

"No! It's… I-I…" Tears began to well up in her eyes as she looked away from him, fruitlessly trying to hide them again," I… _can't_ tell you."

"…?" _You are capable of nearly anything… but you must want to in order to do it_, _if she wants to then she can, yet here she says that she can't, _Kratos reasoned, his statement so true… yet completely incorrect. The way he put it, made everything so simple… just as Anna wished it would be… but wasn't.

"It's nothing an emotionless mercenary would understand anyway," Anna whispered turning her face away from him so he couldn't see her expression at all.

Kratos' face saddened, was that what he was? An emotionless mercenary?

Seeing his expression she added, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean that…"

"No need to apologize," Kratos replied bitterly," An emotionless mercenary wouldn't feel sadness anyway, would he?"

Tears fell again as Kratos watched in shame of his words.

"_I _have hurt you," realizing he had caused her tears to escape from her this time, and most likely the previous time.

"It pains me even more to hear you state those words…" she repeated, struggling desperately not to cry, her grip on the mistletoe tightening as Kratos' suspicions began to grow rapidly. _'If I haven't then what could it be? ... ! _The seraphs eyes glanced at the tearing girl's fist,_ …mistletoe… she's in love…'_

"You are in love?" He asked, eyeing the strangled leaflet and understanding her situation vaguely.

"How did you?…" she questioned turning back so that he could she her profile, but barely any of her eyes.

"Mistletoe resembles love. You hold it in your hands," He explained trying to see her expression but failing. Anna lowered her head, discovering he had no idea who she was in love with… with him.

"Please leave… I can't bare it…", using her brow's umbra to hide both her tears and her expression as she turned away and continued crying.

"Anna, please-"

"Just leave me!" She whirled around, unintentionally revealing her watering eyes and tear-streaked face, begging him to understand. A mere glance at the brunette's expression confirmed Kratos' impressions to be, unfortunately, correct.

He had been holding back for the longest time now, barely managing to do that, the assumed, now confirmed, fact that she was in love with him, made his feelings even harder to restrain.

"I apologize, Anna… but I..., I could not …afford the burden…" Kratos stuttered, battling fiercely against his desires as Anna's tears began to crease. _Anna, you don't know who I am, and if I can't tell you… I can't stop you from making this terrible mistake. _

_"Please! Stop, stop! Your rejection hurts…I can't bare this pain! I know you hate me but I beg you not to say it!" _Anna incorrectly assumed, staring at him with terribly hurt eyes. Eyes, displaying a pain one thousand times worse than the most deleterious death or agony, a glower emitting an endless clash of anger and depression, and twice the amount of anguish the swordsman had faced in four millennia. A glare of such pain, created by none other than his own destructive, demonic words, yet the swordsman continued to fight against the challenging battle of temptation.

"_You hate me…"_

"_No! Wrong! You are the one expected to hate me… clear your vision, look at who I am!"_

"_I see no one but you…and whatever you say you are… you will always be you,"_

"_Anna, that may be true, but your view of who I am not may but will change if I tell you the truth… there is no need to make this so hard…"_

"_Opinions change…but my love for you could never… I love you Kratos…"_

"_!..." _Kratos eyed her in shock… that glare, those eyes… they were displaying nothing but sincerity… along with an unbelievable truth… she would dare to love the monster he was? Impossible…

"Don't look at me like that, you know yourself… you aren't surprised, if you hate me you don't have to act like you don't- just don't hurt me anymore… I love you far to much to face your rejection-" the beautiful goddess pleaded, her eyes once again, flooding with tears, "leave… I can't take this pain,"

That look, now a tearing glare, ripped open the angel's heart, spilling his emotions over the scene as the seraph finally succumbed to his nagging concupiscence.

(**Me: Prepare yourself for abrupt romance that I can barely handle and extreme… well we'll just say, very sudden "movements"… and immature people, this is your last chance. Oh, and if you're leaving, may I recommend an adventure story? Most don't have romance and have a killer plotline)**

Blindly allowing his untamable feelings to govern his mind, the swordsman leaned into her and caught the beautiful, broken goddess passionately in a kiss, leaving upon her soft, fallen lips a sincere bliss of devotion.

Anna's eyes flashed open with dismay and shock, discrediting the seraph's action. But surrendering to the heavenly ecstasy, she returned the kiss.

"_From Hell to Heaven in seconds…"_

In return of her acceptation, the angel embosomed her in a protective embrace, and in all honestly, Kratos doubted he'd ever be able to release her.

Anna, finally summoning the courage to let go, released her grasp on the handsome seraph, only to find herself missing the warmth and laying her head upon his chest.

Clutching a stray piece of fabric under his armor, she released her tears; tears not of sadness but of pure happiness and confident droplets of paradise.

"If you can't bare the pain… then neither can I," Kratos muttered, finally allowing his feelings to show.

"You were in pain… and you didn't show it, but when I needed you to, you did," she whispered, steadying her breathing and snuggling deeper into his warm chest," …thank you…" her grip on the strand of cloth tightening. A grip, not only encircling the fabric, but also a familiar pair of red berries and a forest green leaflet.

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**Me: I… did it… I did it! Yes! I have done the impossible! WOOT!**

**Damien: This may sound crazy but… she did it… she sincerely did… amazing…**

**Me: NOW you owe me ten bucks!**

**Damien: Okay, you may have won the bet which is pretty hard to believe, but _me _giving _you _ten dollars? The readers won't believe that even if you type it here in black in white.**

**Me: Awwww… so no money?**

**Damien: No, but you may have a cookie.**

**Me: YAY! COOKIE!**

**Damien: (To readers) Want one? I've got more, all you gotta do is click the shiny grey button at the bottom of the page and you can have a cookie all to yourself!**

**Me: Hey! A computer cookie!? It's screwing up my awareness system, DAMN YOU DAMIEN!**

**Damien: Uh… you didn't hear that… **

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	2. Sunlit Water

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**Me: Guess what!**

**Damien: Why should I guess? I swear, based of that last chapter you wrote, you're so unpredictable whatever I guess 'll be wrong.**

**Me: ... well... the 'what' part is I wrote another one-shot. The message that is inbetween the lines is that I am going to continue Kranna one-shots as you all seem to like them. **

**Damien: C-continue? R-romance? Faints**

**Me: Dang... I was hoping by the second time we could avoid the fainting... ah, it's Damien**, **he'll survive.**

**Damien (mumbles): Dana Saras... writing romance... faints again**

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**Sunlit Water**

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It was a cloudy day, only small rays of sunlight managing to peak through the thick humidity. Slowly even these small tunnels through the grey mass grew rare and few until there were none left at all.

Anna gazed eastward into a concentration of trees and suddenly broke into a sprint, chasing after the glowing light radiating from behind the trees. Kratos looked up from their previous destination, startled with his unpredictable companion. He followed after her with Noishe at his side and found her on a high cliff that gazed over the glimmering ocean. The majority of the ocean was grey, however a single, circular channel of sunlight hit the center, creating a small golden pool of sunlit water in the grey sea. The sight was distant due to the height of the cliff and the immensity of the ocean, but sightly all the same.

"Is this… Is this the ocean?" Anna asked, dark brown locks trailing behind her with the oceanic breeze. Kratos walked next to her and nodded.

"It's beautiful…"

"You have never seen it?"

"No… I was taken to the ranch before I could… I'm so glad I could see it now," Anna smiled. How much Kratos loved that smile…

Suddenly she grabbed his arm.

"Are we too close? With a few steps I'd…" Anna started backing up although she really wished she could get closer.

"No matter," Kratos shook his head, "do you want to see it closer?"

"We'd fall."

**(A/N: Yah, sure. Fall in love)**

"Not like that," he almost laughed, "you can't get closer by walking."

"Then how?"

"Do you want to? Or not?"

"I… yes I really would. But how could—"

"Like this." Kratos gathered Anna in his arms, her hands around his neck and her legs in his arms.

"Kratos, what are you… ahhhh!!" Anna shrieked as Kratos unleashed his wings and lifted from the surface high into the clouds. Anna closed her eyes and leaned into his chest. She wasn't afraid of heights but… at these heights anyone would start getting scared.

Anna opened her eyes slowly, looking down over the golden ocean.

"Goddess… it's so beautiful…" she managed to say, gasping at the beauty. She noticed they were sinking and looked back up at Kratos. Just before she could ask why, she fell into a trance, looking into his golden and auburn eyes. She had never noticed but… they were beautiful as well.

His smile broke her trance and she finally realized what she had been doing. She blushed and looked back to the ocean, only to find it inches beneath her. Kratos released her from his grasp, letting her feet barely touch the surface. Their hands remained intertwined, keeping Anna levitating. They both stood face to face, feet atop the center of the golden circle that stood medial in the sea.

Anna's death grip on Kratos' hands soon lightened. Light, feathers, and angelic mana revolved around them as the golden patch they stood on began to grow smaller due the clouds' shifting.

Kratos gazed in trance at Anna, her ravishing brown eyes in the golden light, her beautiful long chestnut hair levitating with gentle waves of motion above her shoulders, her wonderfully carved facial features illuminated and constructed with such perfection.

Anna ogled at Kratos, his dark eyes composed of a black whirlpool with sparking prisms of golden light dancing around in them, his soft, fine, auburn hair moving slightly with the wind and falling over his left eye, his beautiful wings, shimmering with blue and green mana.

Anna wove her fingers tightly between his as she gracefully stepped forward on the water, closing the gap between them. The circle of gold that struggled through the clouds now encircled only the two and not more than foot more beyond them.

Then finally they noticed how close they were; breaths could be felt, hearts could be heard, and with the sacrifice of mere inches, lips could be reached …

Kratos closed those few inches, gently taking her chin with his hand and softly pressing against her lips with his. Anna returned the kiss, her hands moving to the back of his neck and his hands moving to her waist. Her eyes fluttered closed in ecstasy, lost in love, lost in passion, lost in heaven.

**(A/N: It makes sense, lost in heaven with an angel...)**

The sunlight ray that provided them light finally disappeared behind the clouds. The mana and feathers that had once surrounded became invisible along with the golden light and Kratos finally came to his senses.

He rapidly but reluctantly broke away, shock crossing his features.

_How could I?! What if Mithos were to see this?! I'd never see her again. I risked her life just for a kiss? Arh! Why can't I think strait?! What's happening to me?!_

"…Kratos?"

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have… let's get back to shore," He stuttered. Why had he acted so foolishly? He always reviewed his actions very carefully before performing them, should they have been academics or swordplay, but here, he had not thought at all about the consequences or anything negative at all. He had just kissed her, without thinking, without rethinking, without resisting… absolutely nothing.

Kratos continued walking over the water with Anna attached to his arm, pondering deeply about what had come over him.

"K-kratos… I'm sorry… I didn't know you—"

"It was my fault. Do not apologize," Kratos replied, anger evident in his voice. Anna saddened as he used the term 'fault'. It had really be a negative occurrence, hadn't it?

The two finally made it to shore. Anna remained silent as a terrible sadness began to proliferate in her stomach then heart…tears began falling. Kratos was calling for Noishe to come down the cliff to where they were on the shore and didn't see them as they traveled down her cheeks. When he turned around with Noishe at his side, Anna was no longer there.

"Anna! ...Anna! Where are you?!" Kratos called.

"Whine!" was the only response he got in total.

Kratos quickly scanned his surroundings and then ventured into the forest bordering the shore, looking desperately for her. During this process he lost track of Noishe; he took little heed however. The protozoan was capable of taking care of itself and Anna was the priority at the moment. After a few minutes of panic, Kratos found her leaning against a vertical slope coming down from the cliff they had been on, her face towards it, and her arm before her face at an angle that covered her eyes. Noishe lay next to her, his head over her feet in a comforting way.

Even from the back she looked beautiful, Kratos had to acknowledge, but seconds after ward he noticed another fact: her back was trembling; she was crying.

"Anna…" he said softly. She didn't respond.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you… I was not angry at _you_…"

Still no response.

Kratos neared her, debating weather he should go any farther. He could not see her expression but it was obvious she was still crying. Noishe lifted his head from her feet and stood, trudging over to Kratos and sitting parallel to him.

"Please, Anna… I'm so sorry…"

The fact that he was sorry did not seem to have an affect on her, she still remained back turned and crying silently. Noishe, stood again and made his exit, causing Kratos a great deal of discomfort; this was really not the time for Noishe to abandon him.

Kratos finally gave up, establishing the fact that acting coldly towards her would not affect either of them positively.

He gently pressed the flat of his palm against her opposite cheek, causing her to turn to him. She looked down away from his eyes as he ran his fingers through her amber hair and pushed several locks behind her left ear.

"Why were you, then?" She said suddenly, moving away from his touch.

"What do you mean?"

"Why were you angry? There was no reason for you to be if you're telling the truth."

"…"

Anna was angry, a rare sight. She had never been angry for as far as she or anyone else could remember. But he had just lied to her face! And now he was_ acting_ like he loved her. How could she not be?

"I know you don't care about me, acting like it only makes it worse!" She almost shouted. It was the first time she had raised her volume Kratos could recall, and he was shocked. She lost her anger and looked as if she was going to cry again. Kratos hated that look… absolutely hated it.

Staring into her hurt eyes, he lost control again.

"That is not true." The seraph stepped forward quietly, killing distance between them. He raised her chin with gentle fingers and kissed her again. A shock of electricity ran through Anna as he touched her lips… this was truly love wasn't it? He couldn't be acting. She kissed him back passionately, her arms folding around his neck.

Kratos leaned into her, the pains of anger and lust leaving him. And for the first time in his four-thousand years… he was truly, deeply content. Filled with powerful and light emotion, over-powered not by the mind but the heart, and not existing, but living with meaning and love.

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**Me: Awwwwww... good, good cheese. That reminds me, I'm hungry.**

**Damien: You used the word 'love' like... five times! Are you seriously okay?!**

**Me: You know what? Now you are just getting annoying...**

**Damien: I blame you.**

**Me: Gah! It's always my fault, isn't it?**

**Damien (sarcasticly): Pretends to cry Oh... I in soooo much pain! She used the term 'fault' Continues to cry**

**Me: ... reveiw? It seriously is alot of pain waiting for you to with Damien here...**

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	3. Tears of the Rain

**Me: This is a sad one I wrote.**

**Damien: Well, you managed to say that without cracking and telling them that there's a continuation that's ha—**

**Me: SHHHH! You're spoiling the feeling of despair everyone's going to get!**

**Damien: …you're suggesting that **_**your **_**writing can move people? **

**Me: Well… yeah… sorta….**

**Damien: …**

**Me: What?**

**Damien: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Me: … I should have known that was coming…**

**Disclaimer: I OWN EVERYTHING! HAHAHAHA! EVERYTH-smack-**

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**Tears of the Rain**

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It was dark and rainy. Ire winds forcefully ran their icy fingers through a forest of furiously waving treetops, branches, and the low bottoms of the grassy Asgard plains, accompanied by thin sheets of freezing rain and ice. The shadowy black plains, covered in thick, long blades of fidgeting, ice-coated grass, shifted in contrasting directions, copying the wind patterns above. A northern, nearly ultraviolet blue, new moon condoned the raging currents, partially bathing the dark landscape with a blazing metallic blue while leaving every southern facing portion of the plain pitch black. The rustle of whispering leaves and branches grew, the destructive, gusty culprits collecting spoils of organic debris from weak branches. 

Nothing conscious dared to move within the landscape, only the thick, black grass and the dark, shadowy trees. Not the slightest potential sound or movement risked interrupting the crescendos roar of the icy winds. No one, no thing, no existence… until the soft rhythm of a heavy quartet began to beat somewhere beyond the horizon of the several moderate foothills composing the plain. The beat grew and grew, stopped abruptly, then returned with even more volume than previously and continued to grow. It continued its punctuated pattern until its source emerged over the top of a distant foothill and then disappeared behind another grassy hill.

It was a shadow. Of a protozoan and a rider atop it, the rider equipped with a black cloak that covered his face with a hood and trailed behind him. The pair ran at a tremendous speed faster than the competing gales about them, teleporting between strides and over ice swept grass.

It was within seconds that they reached their destination, a destination they shared with no one: the Asgard Ranch. Healing his protozoan in some consolation for the inane speed of his demands, the rider descended from the beast and entered the side gate of the ranch silently. It was due to his dark attire that none of the patrolling desians managing the gate saw him enter.

He slipped noiselessly through the outdoor, sleeping, stall-composed isles of the ranch until he came to an isolated chamber that contained a single, awake, and unfortunately dieing occupant.

She had long chocolate brown hair and dazzling, amber eyes that appeared grey in the light. Her face was carved simply but was now complicated with blue lunar highlights and shadows as she gazed out the small barred window of her cell. And covered by her left hand, arm supporting her head atop a horizontal, concrete platform used for food, her right hand possessed new, gleaming exsphere and dripped with black liquid. The rate of her mana loss and the amount of black liquid was progressively increasing.

Using a force similar to telekinesis, the hooded man disengaged the lock, drawing the host's attention. As he entered she took a standing position, presuming her guest was a desian.

"Anna," the black-clad man nearly whispered in a familiar voice, slipping the soaking hood off.

"Kratos!" the exsphere-bearer gasped, running into his arms, brown locks trailing behind her. The angel embraced her tightly, closing his eyes and thanking whatever god looking over them that she was unscathed… or so he thought, until he noticed she was holding her right hand slightly distant from him. He released her, suspiciously eyeing her arm. Anna uncomfortably shifted her hand backwards out of his line of sight and guiltily looked away from him.

"You're hurt…" he realized, noticing dark colored blood dripping from her hand. Anna abandoned her secretive efforts… there was no way she could hide the reality from him… considering she was expected to die within a week ….

"Kratos… there's something I need to tell you…" she whispered, continuing to look downwards.

"What is it?"

"I-" she abruptly closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, trying to prevent the tears clouding her vision from falling. She buried her face in his chest struggling to hold the tears back. The seraph drew away from her, fear overpowering his need to console her.

"What's wrong, Anna? Tell me, what they did to you?" Kratos demanded, anger evident.

She shook her head, tears silently streaming down her features.

"Anna!" the seraph snapped at her, fear enveloping his legendary calm and cool self. _What the hell did they do, Anna?! This is no time to be stubborn! _

"She's our new Angelus Project, Kratos. Quite a compatible one too," a terribly familiar British accent explained, sniggering sickly, "It's pathetic, really. She'll be dead in less than a week." Anna glared at Kvar, standing on the opposite side of the barred cage and laughing his head off, Kratos remained, his back to Kvar, starring at Anna in total shock as he registered the accented words.

"Kratos… I-I'm sorry…" Anna whispered, lowering her head against his chest.

"It's obvious now, Kratos. Who is the inferior? The desians who cultivated and overpowered thousands of those pathetic beings or the filthy maggot crying all over you? Why would you side with those disgusting humans? " Kvar asked cutting deep into the angel's scars.

"Why?! Do you not know of what blood I am?!" the seraph raged, spinning around to face Kvar. The angel's hand darted to his blade, Anna clinging onto his free arm, "I'll show you who's inferior…" he hissed dangerously.

"Kratos…" Anna admonished uneasily.

"I must say, Kratos. Now that your exsphere is no longer operating, your abilities are quite unbecoming," Kvar sighed as several desians appeared behind him, stepping out of the darkness, "had you remained an angel perhaps you could have saved her? It was a possibility."

"…Angel?" Anna whispered inquisitively to her self.

"My abilities and my exsphere are not affiliated," Kratos growled, gathering his mana, "Blood Lance! Holy Division!"

Thunder roared as dark rain threw all the henchmen backwards onto the muddy earth and pilfered their mana. A holy light followed, condensing in the center of the field and erupting with blinding rays, hurling the fleet farther backwards, killing approximately half of the whip-bearers, and a deafening echo of thunder resulting afterwards.

"How the hell can you still use magic, you blasted inferior being?!" Kvar snapped viciously, withdrawing to a kneeling position. A bitter chuckle ensued.

"Magic," the seraph explained, guiding Anna out of the chamber. The pair expeditiously dashed to the western exit, many patrol desians assembled there and blocked the entrance as Kvar and the remained of his men chased after them. They were surrounded in a moment's time.

Kvar commanded his men to halt as Kratos slowly drew his sword.

"Now, Kratos, I'll give you a choice here. Hand over the Angelus and Lord Yggdrasill won't hear any of this."

Kratos paid absolutely no attention to his offer, his eyes were closed as though he was in a trance and his sword held horizontally by both his hands.

"For the sake of the true Martel and in the name of all victims I must avenge…" the seraph muttered.

"…Lord Kratos?" Kvar questioned again, bewildered by his non-reaction.

Before Kvar could realize he was forming a spell, indigo and blue light imploded inward surrounding Kratos, circular, continuous waves of rising rock, originating from the center of light, tossing and shaking all the surroundings as the luminance continued condensing around the angel.

Anna held fast to him, encircling his shoulders diagonally and leaning her head against his chest. Wind chaotically tossed her hair every where, strands of the gales so powerful they were visible, translucent whites sailing outward with the rocky advances of the circular grave spell.

Kratos' brows furrowed and his eyes remain closed, concentrating and trying to control the pythonic amount of mana he was struggling to manage. The wind continued to increase drastically as the spell gradually began to overpower its caster.

"A-anna…"

The brunette sensed the energy in him proliferate and grow chaotically. She reached for his sword slowly, battling against the furious winds. As soon as her finger tips managed to touched the blade, a portion of the energy concentrating shifted into her body while the latter remained in Kratos.

She closed her eyes as well and focused on the mana. She visualized the circular plain they were on and she saw the areas where the energy contradicted and redirected itself. It was an arduous, effort-consuming puzzle. Devoting her mana, she strived to force the currents into a harmonious pattern.

Kratos continued correcting the mana flows, channeling energy repetitively in contrasting ways. Finally, the perplexity assembled into a defined, veracious sphere of light.

The pair opened their eyes, finding everything absolutely silent. A transparent light surrounded them slowly, gradually condensing. No wind or earth shifted, no gravity pulling their hair or lose clothing down.

Kvar took the opportunity to find a standing position again, many of the desians attempting to do the same. Thunder slowly began to rumble again.

"Holy Indignation! Send all those who defy to their graves!"

The luminance erupted and ripped through the proximate earth and air, deafening thunder sounding. Waves of light incessantly tore through the surroundings while flame and rock ran under the plain. Desians fell either unconscious or dead and Kvar retreated farther.

Finally the pair released the energy under their control, allowing it to disperse. Kvar was unconscious and his henchmen, dead.

Anna was exhausted, as the attack had required nearly all her mana the small, vital remainder was slipping from her body into the exsphere pierced in her hand. Her breathing became laborious as her knees buckled under her, her grip on Kratos loosened, and she collapsed.

"Anna!" Kratos gasped, interrupting her fall by placing his hands underneath her. He lowered her to the ground softly, casting healing spells persistently. Her eyes simply remained closed.

Kratos kneeled beside her, his exsphere flickering on and off, his crystalline, cerulean wings flashing behind his back. Silent tears trailed down his face as he ran his fingers through her soft, long hair.

It began to rain.

* * *

**Damien (shocked): … **

**Me: So… what are the critics?**

**Damien: …**

**Me: Damien?**

**Damien: …**

**Me: Yooooohooooo!!!!**

**Damien: …**

**Me: … that's weird… in the script it says that she's sorta supposed to tell me it was terrible and yeah… so… er… this is… **_**awkward**_**… uh… so you guys like Kranna?... ah…er… I do too… um… the first one I re-**

**Damien (crying): AHAHAHAHAHAAahahahhahaaaaaaaaa… **

**Me (smirking): Wha'd I tell you?**

**Damien: (/ \) T-that your stories can move…-sniff-… people…**

**Me: And do they?**

**Damien: …**

**Me: hm?**

**Damien: …**

**Me: hm?**

**Damien: OKAY! YES! They do mov-!- hell no. **

**Me: (0.o)?? Huh? Awha? What was that whole crying fit about? **

**Damien: I felt like making you look like a dork publicly.**

**Me: YOU!!!**

**Damien: R&R plz.**

* * *


	4. Love's Demons

**Me: I'M SO SORRY! AG_AIN!_**

**Damien: Why don't you just update like a normal person?**

**Me: I KNOW! I SHOULD! I'M SO SORRY! I've failed you all...**

**Damien: ... 'all' meaning the two people reading this?**

**Me: SHUT UP!! I WILL GET REVIEWS FOR THIS! JUST YOU WATCH! TT...**

**Damien: Lue owns nothing. Except some mood swings.**

**Me: Hi. Could you review too? Pretty please?**

**Damien: SERIOUS mood swings.**

**Love's Demons**

**Note: This is a continuation of the last chapter.**

He remained by her still form, incapable of reviving her, allowing the rain to drench him in cold moisture. His hair clumped together in thin spikes as rain water rushed off and splattered onto the ground, the illuminant wings flaring behind him adopting a watery texture.

"Anna…." Water streamed down his face; water that, he tried and failed to convince himself, was rain.

The rain continued meandering through his hair and dripping from his locks and face as he leaned forward. Placing his hands onto the firm ground for support, he kissed her softly, closing his eyes.

Thunder rumbled quietly above, water plummeting from the cloud-covered heavens. Winds softy shifted the surroundings, the light rustling of leaves and grass audible. The constant of sound began to grow, lightening flashing, gales flowing, clouds churning.

Anna slowly came back to reality at the angel's contact. She blinked a little and shifted, awakening her sleeping body. Kratos' eyes flashed open as he felt her arms ring around his neck. He immediately recoiled, as though shocked, but Anna followed him up to a sitting position, preventing him from pulling away.

_A kiss? After trying to heal you with all my mana you wake up to a kiss?_

Anna closed her eyes peacefully, enjoying his shocked expression as the rain soaked her in a watery coat.

Eventually, the feeling of discredit grew stale, relief and then pleasure replacing it. Deepening the kiss, he closed his eyes, wet brows furrowing passionately as he restrained the torturous lust that had accumulated in him. He gently stroked the side of her face, his fingers gliding up her right cheek and through her curly hair.

Her grasp finally loosened as they separated. His memorized gaze pierced into her golden-amber eyes, his digits traveling through her silky, raw auburn hair.

"Kratos?" she asked quietly.

"Yes?" he almost droned.

"Were you… crying?"

He immediately snapped out of the trance at the question.

"I-? No. Not at all," the angel said too quickly, praying that she would mistake his tears for rain. Her smile soon turned into a beautiful laughter, burying her head into his chest, "Thank you... for crying for me."

"_I love you, Kratos_."

Kratos' eyes widened in mild amazement, mild due to how evidently true her confession was. But he was still caught unsuspecting. Love had crept up on him from the shadows, either so quickly he couldn't see it, so slowly he didn't acknowledge it, or so stealthily and wickedly it had not come upon him, but trapped him in a circle of fire, leaving no escape. It had ensnared him, in the clouds of heaven or the fires of hell; he feared the truth far too much to wonder.

But those thoughts melted away at her presence, all he could see was love. Love was hypnotizing him, surrounding him with a heaven, so easily shattered by hell's reality.

"I love you too," he smiled, stroking her hair.

What a demon love would become…

**Me: It was short, too. I know. I'll work hard on the next one. I promise. Now uh, about you reviewing. If you want to review could you say which pairing you like better between Kraine and Kranna? I'm taking a little survey on my forum and I really wanna figure out which is more popular. Figures, I shouldn't be asking in a Kranna fic but it's good to know what you guys are thinking. Till the next chapter !**

**-LuE**


	5. Past Bedtime

**Alright people, you wanna know something? This update is an out of the blue miracle. People are still reviewing after… **_**years **_**so I figured I had to do something. …I don't even know what I'm gonna write yet. TT I've got a couple ideas… I've got one about clouds, and a haircut… I'm thinkin' the haircut one's my best shot…. Gosh, I have no clue.**

"Daddy…" Lloyd whined grumpily.

"Yes, Lloyd?"

"You're boring."

"Ah…" Kratos murmured, considering the idea, and realizing it probably wasn't a good thing.

"I don't wanna play with you, I wanna play with Mommy," he said in the same grumpy tone, causing Kratos to sigh.

"Anna is resting, Lloyd. You can play with her tomorrow—"

"Why's mommy resting all the time, Daddy?" he wanted to know, placing his hands on one of Kratos' criss-crossed legs and looking up to him. Kratos felt his heart fall as he looked into Lloyd's inquisitive eyes. Sinless eyes….

"She doesn't rest _all_ the time…" he argued weakly.

"Unh-huh," Lloyd retorted, which Kratos understood to be a counter affirmative.

"She's… not feeling well."

"Why not?" Lloyd asked.

He didn't know how to answer. Bringing himself to answer was a challenge enough… yet those childish eyes were so demanding, there was barely a choice in replying.

"Her Exsphere is…" _is what? What is it doing to her? Tell him._

"Exhere?" Lloyd repeated. It occurred to the father that Lloyd didn't know what an Exsphere was. He'd never explained it to him. Why on earth would he tell a child about that? He wasn't about to tell him now either.

"…She's… sick. You know what being sick is like."

Lloyd's face scrunched up, unsatisfied, "But nobody gets sick forever."

"She won't be sick forever. I'll…" he found himself groping for a courage that wasn't there, "I'll find a way to cure her."

"But she _is_ being sick forever, Daddy!" Lloyd repeated, frustrated. He straightened his legs but kept his hands on his father's lap.

"Lloyd…" It was a pitifully weak admonishment towards Lloyd's impatient tone. He'd have to learn to get better at scolding; that was evident, even Anna had told him something along those lines. He wasn't the sort of person to be scolding somebody else though, really. Chances were, anything his toddler son had done, he'd done something a hundred times worse.

"I'm gonna go be with Mommy," Lloyd stated, turning from his father to the door the next room, where Anna was sleeping.

Kratos quickly left his seat, "Stop, Lloyd," and intercepted him, "You cannot disturb her. I will not allow you to enter that room."

Lloyd didn't listen and made a dash for the room, darting right in between Kratos' feet. Kratos was faster than anyone would have been to react; he blocked the toddler's path so quickly, Lloyd would have collided with some part of his shoe, had he not kneeled down and caught Lloyd's shoulder to keep the boy from running again.

Kratos was surprised to find Lloyd struggling against him, fighting against his hold.

"Lemme go!" he huffed, resorting to kicking Kratos' shin. Like a puppy's bite, it didn't hurt much physically.

"Under the condition you do not enter that room," Kratos compromised.

"Lemme _go_!" the rebel persisted.

He knew his diplomacy never worked with Lloyd. But if that didn't, what would?

"She's not feeling well," he tried, despite Lloyd's refusal to listen, "her condition may only worsen if you trouble her. She needs to rest."

"I wanna see Mommy!" he yelled at him, pressing all his weight against Kratos' resisting hand.

Kratos felt irritation rise in his chest. "Can't you understand? You love her don't you? Stop thinking about what you want and start thinking about what she needs," he told Lloyd sharply.

_He's a child… I can't expect him to think like I do. But I have such a low toleration for how much he demands of Anna…. _

"Don't be mean at me!" He started crying.

…_Or… am I angry because… _

"Lloyd…"

_I'm suffering too?_

He felt his heart drop again at that question and realized it was true. He was suffering in the exact same childishly selfish way… he wanted Anna awake and beside him too. He missed her….

He took Lloyd in his arms, holding him tightly so that his cries were muffled by his shirt.

"I'm sorry…. I should not have spoken to you so harshly," he admitted remorsefully, "I know you miss her."

But that wasn't even the worst part.

He tightened his grasp, making no effort to conceal his sadness. He felt Lloyd's back quiver underneath his hands, and heard the small sobs, the clenches on his shirt, that felt and sounded like the source of his emotional life, where his deepest and sincerest feelings were located, where he was most vulnerable to pain.

Lloyd was everything he felt… he could have very well been talking to his own heart.

**Wow… not bad. It not Kranna yet, I know, but serious Kranna's coming this way (I've suddenly got it all planned out… O.o) I think… it's gonna be a three-shot… maybe four, yeah that'd simplify things. Ehhhh… I don't wanna do the last part though… I'll prolly run out of fuel…. **

**Hehe, some random fyi, for… this part: ****"**the source of his emotional life, where his deepest and sincerest feelings were located, where he was most vulnerable to pain" **I just looked up the definition of heart and that was it XD Yeah, yeah. I couldn't write something that awesome. ...Wait a sec…**

**O.O KRATOS! You're here!**

**Kratos: …**

**TT You were so aweseoomme! I wish my dad was like you!**

**Kratos: Not a very smart wish…**

**You know, Lloyd was throwin' that tantrum cuz he was cranky.**

**Kratos: Cranky?**

**Yeah, he was tired. Little kids get tired, then they get cranky. I had a similar experience with my baby bro once. Actually… I kinda based most of Lloyd's fit on him. Heh. Oh, Krats, I've just got to tell you this. You know how in most Krannas, Anna just dies?**

**Kratos: You mean I kill her.**

**Yeah, sure. Well guess what! In this episode it's even worse. I'll sketched out the whole deterioration process: pretty Anna ---**** total monster. It's just awesome.**

**Kratos: ugh. Please do not review.**

**Aw… common… Kratos, I didn't mean to offend you….**


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